In prior art, dental care units have been implemented as different constructions for different cultures amongst dentists, among other things. The dental care unit in itself is an apparatus used in connection with dental work, one essential and traditional function of which is to properly supply the dental instruments used by the dentist with the physical quantities required for their operation, such as operating power (e.g. electricity or pneumatic air) and/or water. In this context, and as evident to any person involved with dentistry, by the term dental care unit is thus meant a physical entity having a cover enclosing means for such a supply function at least. In connection with dental work, it is often also necessary to use instruments for removing blood, spit, tartar pieces etc. from the patient's mouth by suction. To allow the instruments to be kept at hand, the dental care unit is typically provided with various holders and/or arms. The dental care unit may even have several arms attached to it, for facilities such as an operating light and today e.g. a display screen. In some solutions, the patient chair is also integrated with the dental care unit to form a single apparatus. To be able to serve clients in regions differing in respect of the culture of dental care and also to respond to dentists' individual needs and practices regarding e.g. the way in which the dentist wishes the instruments to be available in connection with a dental care operation, manufacturers may have to keep numerous different apparatus versions in production.
One solution to reduce the number of different versions is to realize the apparatus as enabling realization of different configurations in order that the same basic construction can be utilized to meet at least two different client needs. As dental care units generally require connections for e.g. pneumatic air, suction and drainage, and often also for an incoming water network and electricity, such connections are typically built in the treatment room as permanent fittings by providing the required lines and connections in connection with this permanent installation.
A special category among dentists is the left-handed dentists. Particularly as dentists today typically work from one side of the patient lowered to a lying position, it is typically more natural for a left-handed dentist to work from a different side of the patient than the right-handed dentist prefers.
The prior art includes integrated dental care apparatuses implemented as allowing shifting even between the left/right-handed working. There is e.g. a prior-art arrangement in which the patient chair is fixed to the floor and the lines required for the instruments and other devices intended to be used via the dental care unit are passed thereto through the structures of the patient chair, and in which the dental care unit is connected to the chair by mounting it at an end of an arm part, which is arranged turnable with respect to a vertical axis so that the dental care unit can be turned from a first side of the patient chair to its second side. Although these arrangements do improve the situation in view of use of the apparatus from either side of the patient chair, yet the outcome of this solution as such is not symmetry in view of all conceivable parts of the integrated dental care apparatus.
On the other hand, the construction as described above comprises a basic structure wherein the patient chair is mounted on the floor. In many dentists' opinion, however, absolutely more ergonomic are integrated dental care apparatuses in which the patient chair is not fixed to the floor but in which the chair raising mechanism is arranged e.g. in connection with the dental care unit. A possibility provided by a basic structure like this is that the patient chair can be implemented as a relatively thin structure, making it possible to provide under the chair a space sufficient to allow the dentist to work in a sitting position even with his/her knees under the patient chair. Integration of patient chair and dental care unit provides a possibility to reduce the number of components needed in the apparatus.
Further, in addition to the patient chair, the dental care unit or the apparatus formed thereof often being arranged in the dental treatment room as a permanent installation, the dental treatment space is typically also provided with other fixed structures, such as shelves or e.g. a dental x-ray device mounted on a wall. Typically, the permanently installed solutions do not provide much possibilities for e.g. changing the patient's position on the treatment chair relative to the fixed structures in the treatment space, any more than for e.g. changing the dentist's or assistant's working location relative to these structures, or relative to other structures that may be comprised in the integrated dental care apparatus. Even more broadly speaking, considering many integrated dental care apparatuses in which several functionalities are integrated in the same construction, in many cases placement of different parts of the apparatus and the possibilities of adjusting their position leave room for improvement e.g. from the point of view of ergonomic working and the special requirements imposed by variable practice spaces.